Silverware-safe.



C. E. COLESTON.

SILVERWARE SAFE.

APPLICATION men wuzza. 1914.

Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAP'H 00.,iVAsmNcmN. D.c.

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arena ens an r CLAUDE E. CGLESTON, 0F FELLOWS, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR CF ONE-HALF TO MARICOS H. WHITTIER, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SILVERWARE-SAFE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, Milo.

Application filed June 23, 1314. Serial No. 846,874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLAUDE E. CoLns'roN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fellows, in the county of Kern and State of California, have invented a new and use ful SilverwareSafe, of which the following is a specification.

An object of this invention is to provide simple, convenient and efiective means whereby the housewife can in the ordinary course of housekeeping, and without the use of lock and key, make her silverware practically secure against loss from thievery. This object is secured by providing at the top of the cupboard a silverware tray hinged by its rear upper edge to the back of the cupboard and adapted to fit up tight against the opaque top board of the cupboard, said tray having an opaque front and bottom, and there being a concealed catch to hold the tray tightly closed against the top of the cupboard, and there also being means to support the front edge of the tray when the catch is not caught, thus to hold the tray temporarily aslant, thereby opening the tray to the view of the housewife when the tray is open. In addition to the foregoing construction the door is provided with opaque horizontal stiles that come in front of the tray when the door is closed, thus affording a concealment of the tray when the cupboard is in usual closed position.

Further objects and advantages may appear from the subjoined detailed description.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1 is a front perspective View of a safe embodyingthe invention, the silverware tray and doors being open. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on line indicated by 01 Fig. 1 with the doors closed. Fig. 3 is a fragmental View analogous to the upper portion of Fig. 1, and differing therefrom in that the silverware tray is in its closed horizontal position. Fig. 4: is a reduced front elevation of the device shown in the preceding figures, the silverware tray and doors being closed. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail on line indicated by 06 Fig. 3 to illustrate the latch, the tray being latched in its raised horizontal closed position.

A stationary opaque shelf or tray cover 1 is provided and may form, for instance, the top of a cabinet or cupboard 2 provided with doors 3 swinging on hinges 4, all together forming a china closet of the usual or any preferredconstruction, it being un derstood that I do not confine the invention precisely to a china closet; the elements of chief importance in the china closet or other similar construction being the stationary elevated cover 1 and the doors 8. The doors 3 may be provided with transparencies 5.

The cupboard 2 is provided in its interior near the top or cover 1 thereof with a movably mounted opaque tray 6 which forms a false top to the cabinet and to the space beneath the'shelf and is attached at its rear edge by hinges 7 to the back 8 of the cupboard and which is provided at its front edge with flexible hangers 9 that may be of chain or the like and that are fastened to the under side of the top and that are of .suilicient length to suspend the tray aslant forwardly and downwardly so as to space the tray apart from the elevated top or cover when it is desired to have access to the interior of said tray as in Figs. 1 and 2.

The floor of the tray 6 is provided with tongues 10 forming grooves therebetween to hold the separate pieces of silverware 11 against sliding when the tray is aslant.

Means are provided to hold'the tray horizontally against or in close proximity to the top or cover 1, and for this purpose there is provided a latch 12 pivoted intermediately at 13 to the front of the tray 6 and having at one end a shoulder 14 designed to engage a perforated latch plate 15 in the under face of the cover 1. The latch 12 is held in its latching position by a coil spring 16 and said latch extends downward into a recess 17 in the front edge of the floor of the tray 6, said recess being closed at its front end by the front of the tray. By this construction the latch 12 is substantially hidden from view and, when the tray is latched in its horizontal closed position as in Figs. 3 and 5, said tray appears to form a portion of the top of the cupboard.

The construction as is seen is such that when the tray is raised, the opaque tray although in clear view itself conceals the silverware contents and appears to be only the permanent top of the cupboard. This appearance is effective from the fact that the top of the cupboard is ordinarily above the level of the eye and the construction thus shown is such as not to arouse suspicion of any concealment. In addition son desiring to remove silverware from or replace silverware in the tray 6 will open the doors 3 and operate the latch 12 and lower the front edge of said tray, thus bringing the parts to the positions shown in Fig.

1. After taking from the cabinet or replacing therein the desired articles, said person will raise the front end of the tray 6 to bring the latch 12 into commission to hold the tray horizontally, and he will then close the doors 3, thus causing the stiles 18 thereof to conceal the front edge of the tray as in Fig. 4.

From the foregoing it is seen that the device affords a convenient and safe depository for silverware and the like and one of Which there is minimum liability of its being discovered by any person not intended to have access thereto.

I claim 1. A silverware safe comprising a cupboard having an opaque top, an opaque tray hinged at its rear edge to said top and adapted to fit tight against said top, means to support the front edge of the tray to hold the tray aslant, and a concealed catch to hold the tray elevated against. the opaque top.

2. A silverware safe comprising in combination a cupboard having an elevated top, an opaque tray hinged at its rear edge and fitting the underside of the top of the cup board, and means concealed when the tray is up to support the frontedge of the tray in its elevated position and means concealed When the tray is up to support the tray in its depressed position.

3. A cupboard, an elevated opaque tray hinged at its back and fitted against the underside of the top of the cupboard, means to support the front edge of the tray in its elevated position, and means to support the front edge of the tray when said edge is lowered to expose the contents thereof.

4:. The combination with a china closet, or the like, having doors, of a tray movably attached to the top of said closet, and means to hold the tray against the top of the closet, said tray being on a level with the top bar of the door and hidden thereby when the doors are closed.

5. The combination with a cabinet, of a tray in said cabinet, means to hold the tray aslant forwardly and downwardly, means to hold the-tray horizontally, and a door hinged to the front of said cabinet, one of the horizontal stiles of said door being on a level with the tray when the tray is horizontal.

6. In combination, a cabinet, a tray in said cabinet, means to hold the tray aslant forwarolly and downwardly, means to hold the tray horizontally, and a door hinged to the front'of said cabinet, the top stile of said door being on a level with the tray when the tray is horizontal.

7. In combination, a shelf, a tray beneath and hinged at its rear edge to the shelf, hangers connecting the front edge of the tray to the shelf, means to hold the tray horizontally in close proximity to the shelf, and a door for the space beneath the shelf, one of the horizontal stiles of the door being at the level of the tray when said tray is horizontal.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Fellows, California, this 15th day of June, 1914.

CLAUDE E. COLESTON.

In presence of- GEORGE MoLInos,

C. E. CHASE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. G. 

